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Back to Project Summary Page


Brazil Reforestation Around Hydro Reservoirs

Biodiversity
The project will strongly increase the biodiversity of plant species of the chosen areas, which are currently clear-cut lands and will be reforested using a mix of at least 80 different species of plants per hectare. These species will not be planted in blocks. The process of planting will be overseen by a field biologist making decisions for each hectare about which species to include where. The species will generally be mixed between pioneer species and slower growing hardwoods that require more shade. The reforestation will therefore replicate the forest massifs existing in the area. AES-Tiete, the sponsor financing the project, has already had success replanting with more than 80 native species in similar areas.

Many of the chosen areas are interconnected or connected to preexisting forested areas, and also typically connected to the river areas. Therefore the recreation of the forest coverage will not only increase critical habitats, but also create vital animal corridors connecting the newly forested lands with existing conservation areas, thus allowing wildlife to move around. It will finally create a new supply of fruit, leaves, seeds and indirectly, insects that are part of the diet of several animals.

Due to the lack of options in the buds/seedlings market, seeds from native tree species will be collected from fragment forests around the region. The collection process will be done sustainably with only a small number of seeds being collected from a tree or a segment of forest.

Other Environmental Benefits and Risks
The reforested land will be inserted in a permanent preservation area. The designation of the areas as conservation areas will offer a major reduction in human impact on the long-term growth of the forest, returning the land to its original state more than 400 years ago.

The project is part of the State of Sao Paulo's reforestation effort and represents a strong component of the state's Biodiversity Maintenance and Water Resources Protection Plan. The reforestation of the land will actually help control the delivery of nutrients, toxic products, and sediments, deriving from adjoining areas by increasing the natural filtration and retention capacities of the soil. It will in particular help maintain the chain of water, especially rich in nutrients.

There are not any significant threats identified from this project. The species introduced are exactly the ones found in like areas that were not deforested. The planting method chosen will further require little use of herbicides, fertilizer, and watering, and if needed only for a short period after plantation.

There are also very strong possibilities to expand the project area, since nearby landowners (and even nearby hydroelectric operators) could develop the same approach on other areas. The seedling infrastructure and associated skilled staff developed by the project will likely outlast the project and can favor such beneficial environmental impacts throughout the region.

The project will monitor the impact of the project using the social carbon methodology. This methodology seeks to ensure that projects designed to reduce or mitigate emissions of greenhouse gases could make a genuine contribution to sustainable development, incorporating a transparent method of assessing and measuring the benefits accruing to communities involved in the projects and making sure that the environmental services provided by these communities are properly valued. Its monitoring indicators cover biodiversity and natural resources, and more precisely monitor the rates of deforestation, a stabilization or increase in fish and wild game stocks, and improvements in the quality of soils and water resources, etc. Indicators specific to the project and actors involved will be identified at a later stage of its development.

Socio-economic benefits and risks
About 90% of the project budget is expected to be used locally to produce seedlings and plant them. The land in the project area is owned by AES-Tiete who will receive the carbon revenues, but local communities will also benefit from the planting.

The project will generate around 200 direct jobs, for seedling production in the seedling greenhouse to be created, and for other activities including planting, maintenance, and monitoring of the sequestration. The personnel employed will be recruited locally and trained to produce and plant the seedlings. Additional training will be provided to ensure a correct utilization of the social carbon methodology chosen to monitor the project impacts. The staff trained to develop the seedlings might also find their services required even upon completion of the project if the State's reforestation plan moves forward. Education programs about environmental sustainability, biodiversity and protection of forest areas will be implemented for the personnel and neighboring populations. Such education will likely develop a deeper understanding among local populations of the composition of native forests and of the appropriate methods of rehabilitation of degraded areas.

The area is a popular recreation place for water activities. The replanting of these areas will create a more aesthetically pleasing vacation area with native forests which is expected to help improve local tourism revenues in subsequent years.

Other tangible but less direct positive impacts on local communities will include improved security of clean water resources, coming from the environmental services rendered by the forest and potential increases in land values.

The project does not entail any resettlement risk or loss of economic revenues to local populations. Land areas for replanting were chosen carefully to ensure they are currently inhabited. They are not used for economic activities either.

Although the communities have not been formally implicated at this stage, the participants surrounding the project will be identified before project implementation and a stakeholders meeting will be undertaken.

The social carbon methodology approach chosen to monitor the project includes specific indicators for financial and social resources, like the level of income or the participation in the civil life. Indicators specific to the project and actors involved will be identified at a later stage of its development.

Leakage
The areas covered were chosen carefully to ensure that they are currently uninhabited. They are furthermore not used for economic activities by local populations. As a consequence, there will be no significant leakage envisioned from the project.

Risk of Non Permanence
The land is the propriety of AES-Tiete, which will be responsible to maintain the lands, with the supervision of Secretary of environment from State of São Paulo and also the Brazilian Federal Agency for Environment - IBAMA. While there is no direct financial benefit to AES through the project and its subsequent conversion into a conservation area, AES has nevertheless an interest in ensuring that the land-use does not change in a way that would be detrimental to its operations. For example, in the absence of the project, informal settlements on the land area might destroy the existing grassland and dramatically increase soil erosion into the reservoir. By planting trees and creating a conservation area recognized by the State Government, the potential of informal settlements is greatly reduced, diminishing the potential harm from land-use changes to AES's operations. AES will therefore have an economic incentive to maintain the forest cover.

The areas will be designated as conservation areas, which will greatly decrease the risk of non-permanence coming from a potential unsustainable exploitation of the forest. In fact, pursuant to the Brazilian Forestry Code, existing vegetation must not be cut off and natural re-vegetation process must not be hindered by anthropogenic intervention on such land, unless there is a public utility or social interest involved and in which case a prior authorization by the competent environmental agency is required.

As other forested areas in the region, the reforested land will contain strategically located fire breaks. This historically contained fires in small areas and actually limited the damage to larger trees in the burnt areas.

Additionality
AES-Tiete doesn't have any direct return on this investment. In other words, there is no direct financial incentive to replant the area other than gaining the carbon credits. AES will gain an indirect benefit from the conversion of the land in forest and protected area recognized by the State Government, as it reduces greatly the potential of informal settlements, diminishing the potential harm from land-use changes to AES's operations. Although hard to quantify, this indirect benefit alone is not sufficient to justify the upfront investment from AES. The project therefore complies with the additionality criteria.

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